TreasuresInTerraCotta

It is an unwritten law of the universe:  If you have a truck people ask you to help them move. Akin to this is:  If you have a sewing machine people ask you to make costumes. I have certainly used my machine to make plenty of costumes for the kids and adults around this house.  So when my 13 year old friend asked me to help her make Bubble Skirts for the Taylor Swift concert I was game.  I ended up with three adorable skirts, but in the process I actually made five skirts!  First I tried to copy a design I had on hand, but I quickly realized I needed more of a tutorial.  I finally found two that, when combined, were exceptionally helpful.  But in an effort to make the learning curve shorter for someone else (and to remember what I did when I try to sew another one) I thought I would write a tutorial of my own.  Supplies: Fabric for the outer skirt Fabric for the lining Matching/coordinating thread Elastic (3/...

I have had this craft in the works for months and it is finally compleated.  Adorable Emily over at Jones Design Company showed me how to make a book page canvas in one of her many tutorials .  Her finished product looked something like this, with pages from many different sizes and colors of books, which I plan to copy some day. I started with an inexpensive canvas from the craft store, a Bible bought at the thrift store and a large V for my monogram printed from Word. I had Mod Podge, black acrylic paint and brushes on hand. Then I started to disassemble the Bible (please don't think me irrevrent!) and cut up the pages (eeekk!) and arrange them on my canvas.  I used some pages from 1 Thessalonians that contain our family verses, but I also added some other favorite and encouraging verses from Philippinas and Ephesians and elsewhere. I cut some small and some large and filled in the gaps and did some overlaping.  Then I used Mod Podge to glu...

This is what a homeschool kid gets to do on his first day of Summer Vacation.  Egg Contraption ready for an Egg-Drop Calvin engineered a styrofoam Eegee's cup tied to a plastic bag parachute.  Packing peanuts were added to the cup and then the egg was placed inside.  A second cup with more peanuts was taped on top to prevent the egg from dropping out or bouncing out upon impact. A few homeschooled kids enjoying summer vacation! Up, up, up... and up, up, up... 75-85 feet up Here comes Calvin's egg. Nice and slow It made a nice soft landing The egg survived! Do you think we should tell Eegee's that thier cups helped to save the egg?  Maybe we could get some flavor-of-the-month out of the deal! We don't have any big plans for the summer, but we have a running list of things to do at home and around town, including: throwing water balloons, swimming, planting a butterfly garden, taking treats to the p...

Back in the beginning of the year I embarked on some Memory Work.  We've been moving at the do-able pace of two verses per week with periodic breaks for review.  The first week of May, Week 18 of the year, we finished Romans 1.  Today we begin Romans 8. Memorizing large section of consecutive verses is not something I've ever done before, so some of the experiences of the past few months have been new and unexpected.  Here are a few of my thoughts. - Sometimes any place to let the baby draw is good enough.    - Memorizing cohesive verses aids with memory work.  In the past I have memorized one to two verses every two weeks , but each verse was a stand-alone verse.  To recall each verse would be difficult without prompting.  Memorizing the verses in the flow of the whole passage helps. - Memory work takes time.  I can not simply read my verse a few times during the week and have it stick. I have found that I have to spend ti...

We're rapidly approaching the end of our school year and I wanted to post a few of our art projects.  Our homeschool curriculum includes art books and instructions in the lesson plans a few times a week.  I have to admit that I am not very rigorous about ensuring we complete the art unit each day.  We do however, do art and other crafty activities regularly.  In addition to the curriculum, I've also found a couple wonderful art blogs with many great ideas for kids.  One of my favorite inspiring places is Deep Space Sparkle .  As an art teacher in a public school she includes a lot of age specific projects, lesson plans, supply list recommendations, and lots of samples from real kids.      This year we've studied many birds in our overview of United States history and introduction to the states.  We made a textured owl craft.  We made these pretty cardinals...